Dyslexia task force presents recommendations to Board of Education

Education leaders said too many students are falling behind when it comes to reading.

TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNT) – Education leaders said too many students are falling behind when it comes to reading. But there might soon be hope for struggling kids.

The State Board of Education heard from the Dyslexia Committee on what recommendations they should send to the legislature.

Experts that focus on Dyslexia said there is a significant amount of kids not reading at grade level in the state.

They said that identifying if there is a problem between kindergarten and second grade is ideal, but there currently isn’t a plan that addresses the problem.

Recommendations were given to the board stressing the need for educators to change how they teach kids to read, as well as showing new teachers the best way of identifying students that are struggling.

“To be able to teach foundational learning skills, and we also addressed current teachers in practice, we want them to have the training needed to implement foundational fluency in their classroom,” said Cindy Hadicke, elementary education program consultant for the State Department of Education.

But the need for money to fund a plan like this stuck out to some of the board members.

“The challenges are real, finance is a huge deal for schools, especially our smaller systems, however I believe the board will work to implement these with legislative funding or in a way that is universal costs are covered, one way or another we want to get this done,” Hadicke said.

At their meeting next month, board members will vote on what recommendations to send.